Chapter 267, 1/2

Erick said, “I’m pretty sure you don’t actually want to be there, Shadow. I don’t want to be there.”

It was the day of the hearing between the Fae Council and Nothanganathor. It promised to be short and private. Something more public may happen later, but today it was just the Council, Yggdrasil, and Nothanganathor. Certain other people had been invited, but they had been told they were not allowed to speak unless asked to speak, with the various consequences for breaking such a rule left unspecified.

Erick had been invited by Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil had not wanted to invite Erick, but he had done it anyway, and now Erick stood in a prep room in House Benevolence, in City #1 in Tir Gael, looking over papers of facts, organizing his final thoughts. He was also preparing to have those thoughts torn asunder by whatever Nothanganathor said in the Council chambers.

Shadow had wanted to go, too, to be invited by Erick. She did not like being told ‘no’ in this instance least of all. With a dark, calm glare, she said, “I should be there.”

“Yeah. You should be there. Do you think you could honestly not speak up?”

Shadow glared a bit harder. “I could maintain decorum.”

“ ‘Could’ maintain. That’s not a ‘would’.” Erick said, “I am rather sure that he’s going to get under my skin rather well. All he has to do is bring up how he brutalized…” Erick didn’t want to say it, but he said it anyway, “How he brutalized Debby, or… or any of them. And besides that, he knows everything there is to know about me. He doesn’t know much about you. You could be in reserve for when the actual decisions are getting made. This is going to go beyond a hearing, Shadow.”

Shadow relaxed her glare. “There is logic to that, and yet, I am currently beyond logic… which means I should remain in reserve.” She took a moment, looking away, pacing for a few steps, her fancy black dress shoes clipping on the hard white floor, her court-date dress swishing as she moved. She stopped and said to Erick, “You’re not allowed to harm our chances either, and when it is over, you will report everything to me.”

“I will.”

Shadow breathed and then she stepped away, vanishing from sight as though stepping through veils made of half-invisible shadows.

Erick stepped away from the papers on his desk, to stare out the window. He looked without seeing, his thoughts not on the pastel roofs of the many apartments and buildings, but on the upcoming trial that was not a trial. It was just a hearing. Nothanganathor still had great standing within Margleknot, and of course he did. His magic was everywhere, in all of the Evil societies of this land. Slaver’s Den had had a lot of that shit; Malevolence. Malevolence was responsible for a good several percent of Margleknot’s preeminent killers of corruption out there in the greater universe.

Nothanganathor was probably going to claim that he had made Benevolence through his Malevolent actions, like a researcher prodding growth among its research subjects...

Erick frowned.

What did a good outcome of today look like? Realistically.

They certainly weren’t going to dismantle anything that Nothanganathor himself had built. Maybe they might censure him in some… not at all adequate way.

… What Erick wanted was Nothanganathor expelled from Veird and forbidden from interacting against Veird. Would that happen?

Probably not…

But if they believed he was the cause of the Sundering? Would they expel him then?

… No.

They wouldn’t act against him without proof of his malfeasance, and there was no proof, because the Painted Cosmology no longer existed. Would they act against him if he came right out and said that he had caused the Sundering?

… Erick wanted to say ‘yes’, but the answer was likely ‘no’.

Erick sighed. In truth, he had no idea what today would bring. He probably shouldn’t go to the hearing. Nothing good would come of it at all, except, perhaps, that Erick would get a heads up regarding further interaction with Nothanganathor.

“Yup,” Erick said to himself, as he finally looked out the window and saw his newest city. “The only good outcome of today is knowing what comes next.” Erick sighed. And then he prepared himself. With a flick of his aura, he poked at a pad near his desk, and then said, “Ring up Blighter of Wraithborne, please. I need to know if he’s still my lawyer, and if Wraithborne is still non-aggressive.”

Erick's secretary was the valkyrie known as Shivraa. Erick had transformed her into a dragon the other week, though, after ending the Quarantine. She was taking well to being a dragon of Benevolent Ice and something similar to Valkyrie, and if she needed to she could return to inhabit the Valkyrie magic, and then be reincarnated back into a dragon. She was still working on all of her particular powers, and that would take a while, but she had been a secretary for many years before she was captured by slavers, so she was taking very well to being Erick’s secretary.

Shivraa spoke up from the speaker, “One moment.”

Twenty seconds of silence and thinking later—

Shivraa said, “Lawyer Blighter on the line, sir.”

“Ascended Flatt!” Blighter said, “I am glad to be taking your call.”

“Are you still my lawyer? Is Wraithborne still non-aggressive?”

“Yes, and yes.” Blighter said, “Wraithborne has been invited to today’s hearing by Nothaganathor. If you were to invite us as well, then we would be on your side as well.”

“That’s not a violation of interests?”

“I’m still the top lawyer at the firm who is not a Prime. Nothanganathor is represented by Prime Hadrago; my boss.”

“… That’s not a violation of interests?”

“No. It is not. Wraithborne plays very well with itself when it comes to bountiful outcomes for all. If both of us are there, for both sides, then we will fight till a conclusion is reached that is beneficial for both sides. If only Prime Hadrago is there, then he will fight for Nothanganathor’s exclusive rights to power.”

“… Ah.” Erick said, “My goal is Nothanganathor’s complete annihilation. That’s not on the table if you’re there, is it.”

“That honestly depends on the outcome of the hearing and the possible trial to come. It could very well be that Wraithborne wishes to abandon Nothanganathor, depending on his depravity.”

“But if he has some miracle plan for a whole new Painted Cosmology, with him as lead God of Magic, then what is Wraithborne’s position?”

“That we will try to keep Benevolence around and also argue against Nothanganathor being allowed that sort of power, considering he killed a universe to get there.” Blighter said, “Someone like that does not deserve the reins over any sort of Creation at all.”

Erick let surprise show in his voice. “That’s unexpected.”

“Ascended Flatt,” Blighter said, “I say with the full weight of Wraithborne behind me: you’re correct about the fact that Benevolence is better than Malevolence for the growth of nations. Malevolence steals and hides, all for the primacy of Nothanganathor. Benevolence is out in the open, and you’re the main user but other people are eagerly taking up the power for themselves. Your rise to power is so much faster than Nothanganathor’s ever was. If you wanted, you could take over all of Margleknot in a millennium. If you do not, then someone will, and it will be a person wielding Benevolence.”

Erick considered that. “I’ll have a different sphere to colonize and grow, Blighter, with Yggdrasil being there as well. You can tell Morbion that, if he’s not already listening in on this call.”

“I’m here, Ascended Flatt,” said a different voice. A deeper voice. It was Morbion. “Wraithborne wishes you luck with your worlds and purposes. Witch Agatha hopes that Witch Aragathara serves you well in the coming trials, and for you to know that Agatha also desires to see Nothanganathor ripped from his throne, if he deserves to be ripped from his throne.”

Erick said, “Aragathara is fitting in well, here at House Benevolence. If her sister wishes to visit, and provided she acts like a proper guest, she is welcome.”

Morbion’s voice seemed almost amused. “I’ll let her know.”

There was a click.

Blighter spoke, “Shall we meet you at the entrance?”

Erick said, “See you there.”

- - - -

Erick stepped through a swirling vortex of gold and green, onto a grand road of glitter crystal, kilometers wide, leading toward a wall of glitter crystal that was that half of the world. The Fae Enclave was massive, like a delineation in reality. At the very end of the road lay a large entrance, left open, leading into a place of trees and greenery and the land of the fae of this cosmology. It was smaller than the nail of his pinky from this distance, looking like little more than a glint of brighter light upon the wall ahead, but Erick knew it was pretty big.

Erick stepped forward—

—and moved hundreds of kilometers in that move, to stand in front of the entrance to the Fae Enclave. The entrance dominated half the world, and a land of cultivated forest lay beyond.

Blighter and Seabass, the two vampire lawyers from Wraithborne, stood there to the side, waiting for him. They bowed toward Erick.

Erick nodded, then turned to the insect-like fae woman sitting behind a glitter crystal podium, before the entrance into the Enclave. “Hello.”

“Aye. Erick Flatt. You are expected. You will remain in this lesser form and observe the proceedings. Your lawyers will abide by this as well. Do you have questions?”

“Can my lawyers and I speak to each other and not have our private conversations interrupt the proceedings?”

“Granted. You’re in the audience. You have to find your own way there. I’ll move your lawyers now.”

And then the fae clicked her fingers.

Blighter and Seabass vanished.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The insect fae gestured to the grand entrance to the Enclave beyond her podium. “You may proceed.”

Erick stepped into the air and flickered through the entrance, into the grand thoroughfare of green grass between kilometer-sized trees the size of Arbors, like at Treehome, with the orcols. This land was filled with fae, though; in houses in those trees, and on walkways, and hovering in the air here and there, going about their days without care for Erick at all. Some of them noticed Erick but he wasn’t a giant black dragon this time so they didn’t really care.

Flickering forward, Erick felt the fae-trap of the endless forest treadmill try to latch on, but he passed through that trap with a burst of his own disagreement.

Within moments, he once again stood before a much-more-reasonably-sized tower of glitter crystal that hovered above an empty crater.

The glitter crystal opened up; a door appearing, to make an entrance into the Fae Council Court.

Erick floated forward—

- - - -

Erick found himself seated on the right hand side of the audience, like he was at a football game or attending the theater. Blighter and Seabass were further right, the vampires both looking a little dazed, but then they were suddenly here, in the moment, as Erick looked to them. They nodded.

The Council room was the same as before; all dense glitter crystal.

The litigants were different.

Margleknot, as his orcol, Yggdrasil-self, stood to the right, behind a podium. On the judging side of the room, the Lords and Ladies of the Enclave sat in their chairs behind the arc of the glitter crystal judges’ table. From left to right, it was Lord Eldraki, Lady Aelorika, The Fractal Fairy, Lady Seraphaka, and Lord Dakka.

And to the left, beside the defendant’s podium, was a man.

Erick felt he should have recognized Nothanganathor, or at least his avatar. Erick had never met the man, of course. Still, Erick felt he should have recognized Nothanganathor.

Short white hair. White horns that curled up and back but which were clearly not dragon horns for they were almost slick; made for cutting through water. A leviathan’s horns. White eyes almost as white as a Shade’s, which was odd. His skin was deeply tanned. The guy was physically attractive, because once you reached a certain level of power you could decide those things about yourself. But he was also kinda tired-looking. Sleepy, almost. He didn’t look bored to be here, but he looked tired.

In any other setting Erick would have been predisposed to want to hand the guy a cup of coffee, to ask him what was bothering him, and if he needed help.

The meeting had not started yet.

Everything was still, in most ways. Sure, Lord Eldraki was messing with some illusions on the Council table, Lady Seraphaka was on a phone, Lady Aelorika was typing away at a tablet, and Lord Dakka was staring at Erick in a… Oh. Uh? A lustful, sort of way? Uh?

Lord Dakka twinkled his fingers at Erick and then made a kissy face, all silent-like.

So that was weird—

Yggdrasil was saying something to Nothanganathor, under his breath, and Nothanganathor was saying other small things under his breath, their lips barely moving. Erick probably could have understood what they were saying if he knew the language and if there wasn’t a heavily magical barrier between the stands and the court proper. That barrier read in tiny words, ‘Talking is permitted among the audience. Do not interrupt the proceedings upon pain of pain’

There were a few other people in the audience.

Over there, in the seats behind Nothanganathor, was a man who looked human, but grey, who had a Wraithborne briefcase sitting on the bench beside him. The man saw Erick looking at him, and he nodded deeply, softly whispering, “Ascended Flatt.” He introduced himself, “Hadrago. Lawyer Prime of Wraithborne.”

Erick decided to be cordial and nodded back, and that was enough for both of them.

A few swirls of some sort of censoring magics occluded the remaining few people in the audience. One of those magics was gold and silver swirls. Another was a spherical mirror. The final one was a pixelated static cube. None of them sat near Erick at all. He was pretty sure that the gold and silver person was Lionshard; that power had that feeling to it—

Lady Aelorika put down her tablet and it disappeared. She cleared her throat, and the room came to order. “And that’s all the guests.” She intoned, “We are here today in a preliminary way to see if Nothanganathor deserves to be divested of much or all of his power here in Margleknot, or if nothing needs to happen at all. Nothanganathor. You stand accused of Sundering the Painted Cosmology through a series of networked power stations that propagated a dangerous killing magic throughout that entire universe, ripping it to pieces, and then harvesting those pieces for your own gains. What do you say to this accusation? Keep it short.”

Nothanganathor nodded, then spoke as though he was reporting on the weather, “The Darkness still exists. That universe is still there. The magics I did were incapable of killing that universe, but the pieces that people inhabited no longer exist, and yes, I did that.”

He just…

He just… came out and said it.

Erick breathed deep, feeling some unfeeling, unknowing sort of way. It was halfway to giddy, and yet halfway to a rage as well. Vindication swirled around somewhere in his soul, and his heart beat hard. He breathed out.

He knew it wasn’t over at all.

The Council fae all looked unsurprised. Yggdrasil looked… sad? Yeah. Sad.

Lady Aelorika nodded. “Glad you didn’t try to lie to us. How did you kill the inhabited part of the Painted Cosmology?”

“Planted Malevolence seeds all across the land. Took a few thousand years to propagate far enough. It was a magic that was unique to the Painted Cosmology that allowed such a thing to happen at all. It couldn’t happen here due to the multi-magic nature of this uber-universe. It only worked at all because every time Melemizargo found that magic he enjoyed finding it, because he used it to draw me back to the Painted Cosmology and torment me, instead of actually erasing that magic.”

Lady Aelorika asked, “Did you deserve that torment?”

“We are enemies.”

“How did you escape that torment?”

“I had previously stolen a Sign of the Fractal from Margleknot’s avatar that he would send to the Painted Cosmology. Melemizargo only got an avatar of mine each time he drew me there.”

Yggdrasil was quietly furious.

Lady Aelorika asked, “Why couldn’t that magic be used here, in this cosmology, to Sunder this universe’s inhabited places?”

“It was a thieving sort of magic that worked on mana-made souls. Even if you sucked all the mana out of a large portion of this universe, you would still have resons and particles and all the rest. The infinite nature of this universe is truly infinite, unlike how it was in the Painted Cosmology.”

“Could this magic be transposed to work on atoms, or slices, or Infinity itself?”

“Doubtful. The Fractal takes notice of that sort of thing rather heavily.”

Erick whispered to himself, but maybe also to Blighter and anyone else nearby, “Nothanganathor already eats all the slices of infinity around Veird that aren’t the God Pact world, so that’s a fucking lie. He could eat this universe if he plotted well enough.”

Lady Aelorika frowned a little at Nothanganathor. “But you eat the slices of infinity all around Veird’s God Pact world all the time. Plus, there’s Elemental Destruction and various other forms of consuming spellwork, like that [Cleanse] magic. We’ve had quite a few demonstrations of such possibilities rather recently, with your Element’s new Opposite. I doubt that Wizard Flatt, Ascended from Veird, is better at magic than you are, so explain to the court, how, exactly, your Sundering spellwork would not do the same thing to this universe that you did to the Painted Cosmology?”

Nothanganathor easily said, “Because I have given you my Opposite. I have culled Veird in so very many different ways to prepare for this day, so you finally have something that directly opposes my Malevolence, so that you will allow me to consume Veird entirely, and remake the Painted Cosmology how it should be. You have both my weapon of Malevolence and the way to kill my weapons in your hands, with Benevolence. I even gave Margleknot another instance of himself, and a Father. I have also given Margleknot a heavy return of the Balance.” He said to Yggdrasil, “I know you can never forgive me for betraying your trust, but I know I have given back more than I have taken.” He said to the council, “And I know I will make the Painted Cosmology better than it ever was, provided I am allowed now to finally consume that world, instead of watch over it.”

Erick was stunned as Nothanganathor took credit for his own work, for his own Benevolence, as though he hadn’t been fighting Nothanganathor every step of the way, as though That Asshole wasn’t killing him every chance he got, as though—

Erick was spiraling in fury.

Everyone had told him that Nothanganathor was going to take credit. Erick hadn’t believed it until now, until here. But yeah. The guy was shameless. Taking credit for someone finally standing up against him, from successfully hiding from him all this time, from someone among millions finally making an Element to directly oppose him! Of course opposing elements happen now and then! Nothanganathor should not get credit for that!

And then to speak of consuming Veird!

“Ohhhh,” Erick whispered, raging, “I’m going to murder him so much.”

Lady Aelorika frowned at Nothanganathor’s little speech. She hummed. She sat back in her chair.

Lord Eldraki put away his tiny illusions and asked Nothanganathor, “How did you make Erick come to be?”

“I couldn’t do a direct approach, of course, because if I did that then my Opposite would not be accepted as a True Opposite. And so I prodded. I waited. Primarily, I infected their Goddess of Knowledge, eating away at her capability to do anything, and then mutating what was left. I did spawn a few avatars over the centuries, there at the beginning, but Melemizargo saw all of those and killed them or attempted to mutate them back at me. From what they call the ‘Old Demons’ to the Rage of the Orcols to even individual bad actors meant to tear them down how I needed them torn down, my various efforts at working sideways were killed here and there.

“One of my largest shaping successes and also failures was Idyrvamikor.

“In the Death of all Halves, Melemizargo’s wizard grandson was poisoned by me to do my bidding and he almost succeeded in simplifying everything when he made the orcols. If the orcols would have happened as I wanted them to, then that singular race of sapients on Veird would have simply disbelieved in Melemizargo, but he couldn’t have that simple end, so Melemizargo interfered. I managed to instead poison Elemental Dragon with a Curse that worked through his bloodline, attaching that one to his other grandson, twisting all dragons to a leviathan form, like he did to me. Quite proud of that one, really.

“From there, Kirginatharp has done a lot of my bidding over the years, but I kept a very light touch. Barely anything at all, because that seemed to work better.

“From around 75 years onward, Post Sundering, I did very little but nibble here and there, only consuming the slices of realities that got too far away from the main world of Veird; the ones that would fall to self-destruction, anyway. The main world that they call the God Pact world was carefully pruned.

“I had set up everything for success by that time, from Fate magic not being inside the Script so well, to triggering Planar visits, to easing the way forward for everyone who was remotely able to resist my Malevolence at all. It’s that last one that truly got Erick up here, at Margleknot. If I wanted to I could have killed him at any point in time, and I was about to at one of those yearly parties to Melemizargo, but then he made Yggdrasil, and from there I stepped out of the way.” Nothanganathor said, “I knew Erick would become my True Opposite by then.

“And so I went investigating him more.

“Apparently, my Malevolence gave rise to the woman Erick met in college by the name of Margaret, which gave rise to Jane, who was born with a bit of Malevolence inside of her. Erick’s almost allergic reaction to that, as a Natural Wizard, is what precipitated his entire adult life.

“Therefore, as it was my aim to cause my True Opposite all this time, I claim right of cause of the resultant Benevolence, and all the assorted benefits thereof, as well as forgiveness for the temporary loss of the Fractal’s ingress into the Darkness.” Nothanganathor said, “I’ll be setting that to rights as soon as I’m allowed.”

Erick heard a ringing in his ears, threatening to block out all the impossible things that he was hearing. He still listened, though. All of this shit he was hearing might be possible, but Erick would never take credit for something good that someone else did with Benevolence. How could Nothanganathor even begin to take credit for Malevolence in that way? It didn’t make sense—

Lady Seraphaka scoffed. “You can’t take credit for something that happened outside of your direct control on a backwater world that happened to be influenced by your Element. There are billions of Malevolence users these days and all this universe has your taint upon it.” And then, realizing she hadn’t asked a question, she said, “Give us examples of your interference that specifically drew Erick forth to Veird, Nothanganathor.”

“I set up the Fate Magics in the Script to draw forth someone to solve three Ultimate Quests.” Nothanganathor said, “Find a way back to the Old Cosmology, which is through me. Find a way to cure Melemizargo’s insanity, which I caused. And expand civilization out into this New Cosmology, with me as the direct impediment to such expansion. All of these Ultimate Quests are ones that would require a direct counter to Malevolence. I set up the field. Erick wandered into the field, and succeeded against me, every time he went up against me, until he was finally able to come here, to Margleknot.”

Lady Seraphaka frowned. She said nothing.

Lord Dakka giggled as he looked around. “My turn? My turn!” He shot up to his feet, and stared at Erick. “Give me your Valkyrie magic and agree to get Melemizargo to give his Mantle to Nothanganathor, or however you want to do it, and I’ll make you in charge of Veird and all of those lands which Nothanganathor calls his own!”

Erick heard what Lord Dakka had said, but—

Lady Aelorika said, “Erick isn’t allowed to speak right now. Ask something else please, Lord Dakka.”

Dakka rolled his eyes and said to Erick, “You think about it!” Then he asked Nothanganathor, “What does a fight between you and Erick look like? Completely one-sided, yeah?”

Nothanganathor said, “Erick is nowhere near my level of power and he won’t be for a very long time. I only let him go last time. There would be no point in having me fight him, nor would I want to, now that he has proven himself as a valued participant in this universe.”

“Yeah,” Dakka said, “That’s boring. I’ll think of... something…” He paused. He frowned a little, and then he said, “Nothanganathor Sundered his own starting universe, stole from the Fractal, betrayed Margleknot, and now pretends to be some ultimate power instead of a fuckup responsible for his own downfall. I don’t believe a shitting thing he says. He’s always been way too fucking shifty, always in on Eldraki’s tricks. Erick sided with me, though, and I trust war more than I trust tricks… You and Eldraki; you both speak too tricky. You might not be lying but you ain’t truthing!” He said, “That’s all I have to say on this crap. Who’s talking next?”

Yggdrasil demanded of Nothanganathor, “I want my piece of myself back.”

“I can give you the memories. I can’t give you the Sign. It still contains many people of the Painted Cosmology and I want to bring them back.”

Yggdrasil frowned. “What percentage of the Painted Cosmology have you saved?”

“I have 780 billion souls of the Painted Cosmology in your Sign right now. I can’t give you a percentage of the whole.”

Yggdrasil seemed to have expected much of that. He said to the Council, “I officially request the Council to judge Nothanganathor harshly in all ways in this matter, and to favorably view all other involved parties in the Painted Cosmology issue. I request the Council rescind the overall Quarantine of Veird and the surrounding lands, and to restrict Nothanganathor’s ability to regulate those lands, as well as strip him of his status as Arbiter of Veird. I request the Council officially invite the gods of Veird to Margleknot, so that they can give larger testimonies on this matter.”

Silence.

Lady Aelorika glared at Nothanganathor. “You have sundered trillions, and only saved billions. You have ended a universe’s capability to speak and to grow and to change, all for the opportunity to take over that speaking-growing-changing yourself. Do you believe yourself capable of being the creator of a universe?”

Nathanganathor solidly said, “I know I can be the creator of a universe.”

“A universe you could rescind at a moment’s notice,” Lady Aelorika countered. “After all, Malevolence is all about getting yours and damning all the rest.”

Nothanganathor said, “I will abandon Malevolence to your care as soon as I no longer need it, once I am empowered in my original power as I was before Melemizargo and his ilk cursed away my true self, once I am God of Magic of the Dark Universe.”

Silence.

Eyes wandered.

Thoughts happened behind closed minds.

The trickster Lord Eldraki paid full attention to the hearing, his eyes shining dark.

And then Lady Aelorika commanded, “State your final words of defense, if you have any against the indefensible.”

Nothanganathor asked, “Do you wish to have lands and influence in the Painted Cosmology? Or do you wish to be ignored by that land once again, if Shadow and her ilk are allowed to reclaim it? Margleknot. Do you wish to be planted and to grow within the Painted Cosmology, and not be ousted and killed every other century every time you go visiting that universe? Does the Fractal want more communication with the Darkness? Or a return to small conversations?

“I have used my Sign of Power to grab and contain as much of the Painted Cosmology as I could. It’s just disembodied souls right now and a few trinkets here and there, but it can easily become something more than that, once I can actually communicate with the Darkness at the level I know I can communicate.

“And then all will be right with reality.

“The outcome of my deception was always going to end in this way. Nothing is out of order. Everything is within acceptable parameters. All of this was planned for, and now we are here. Nothing is corruptive about my actions, and the Darkness still exists.” Nothanganathor said, “And now you have Benevolence, in addition to Malevolence. All of this is because of me, and my actions. None of your trust has ever been misplaced, though I have certainly stomped on it overly harshly. It was necessary. I would do it again.

“It takes a harsh hand to deal the death that is necessary to make civilizations flourish properly. I am that harsh hand.

“Because of my pruning, whatever comes next will be wondrous.”

Erick was glad that he had come here.

He also wished he could have stayed in Tir Geal.

Shadow would probably be apoplectic right now. She would have every reason to be furious, too. Erick was furious. Showing that fury in a court of law wasn’t going to serve him well at all.

He wanted to show that fury.

He desperately wanted to.

To speak of the Sundered. To give voice to the lost. To say… so much. There was too much to say. Too much to condense down into anything small like some stupid courtroom drama.

Erick found himself skipping all of that and asking, “Why would the Darkness listen to his call to create? The Dark is chaos incarnate, and the Dark is mindless until it recognizes that it desires a mind. Shadow stuck a painting of an astronaut into a painting of the Dark, and somehow that worked. SOMEHOW, that worked. There is no guarantee that anything Nothanganathor would do with the Dark would work to create anything close to what had come before. No. What he would create would be an empire in the Dark, and then he would grow that empire as far as it could grow.”

… Erick found himself standing in the center of the courtroom, off to the side with Yggdrasil, speaking without stopping until he had arrived at his full counterpoint to Nothanganathor’s position. He had spoken out of turn, it seemed.

Erick doubled down. He puffed out his chest a little, and stood his ground.

The Fae Council was looking at him. Yggdrasil was looking at him. The Fractal Fairy might have been looking at him, or maybe not; hard to know.

Nothanganathor looked at Erick with sleepy, white eyes, and then he disregarded Erick.

Lady Aelorika turned her attentions back to Nothanganathor, asking, “Have anything to say to that?”

“The Darkness isn’t going anywhere and I have a connection to it, and all the souls I saved were from there, so it will take one or two or hundreds of tries, but it will happen,” Nothanganathor said. “I can try for a while. As long as it takes. I imagine it will take a few hundred years to get something generative going. Less time, if I have help. Once I am empowered, ascended, and godly, it would be easy. I would have Margleknot’s help in this, if he would give it. Such help would ensure a good outcome.”

Yggdrasil said, “I would rather help Erick do the same, and never see you again, Nothanganathor.” With a deep hurt in his heart and eyes, Yggdrasil said, “You betrayed me deeply. You don’t understand how deeply.”

“I do understand, Margleknot,” Nothanganathor said. “I have your Sign of the Fractal. I understand fully how much I betrayed you.”

Margleknot raged.

The glitter crystal of the courtroom fractured with gold and green that curled and exploded under Yggdrasil’s feet, expanding under the firmament of the world, reaching all corners of the space, as Margleknot declared,

“THEN GIVE ME BACK MY LIVES.”

The Fractal Fairy waved a hand, and all was silent. The glitter crystal healed. Gold and green pulled back.

Margleknot’s skin was gold, a crown of horns upon his otherwise-orcol countenance. He sighed, and looked tired, as he pulled back, and green returned to his skin, his horns retreated back to his black hair, but his eyes remained gold. Erick stepped to his side, closer, and put a hand on Margleknot’s hand. Margleknot went still, and Yggdrasil held Erick’s hand briefly, before letting go.

Yggdrasil said to Nothanganathor, “I can’t forgive you for stealing my selves. I can’t forgive you for sundering thousands of trillions of lives. Or more.” He looked truly tired now, as he said, “But I also know you have saved so very many with your Malevolence, by killing corruption out there in the greater universe. At the low estimates for the population of the Dark, when compared to the places you have saved, you’ve rescued more than you have damned. At the high estimates of the population of the Painted Cosmology, you would be labeled a Corrupter, and it doesn’t matter that you are prepared to put the Painted Cosmology back because you would be making it in your image, and Corrupters cannot be allowed images of their own.”

Yggdrasil looked like he could keep going, but he stopped there.

Lady Aelorika spoke, “Naming Nothanganthor as Corrupter seems adequate for his Sundering of a universe, no matter what outcome he was hoping to achieve with his schemes.”

Lady Seraphaka said, “I would agree to this Naming, or at least to a removal of Nothanganathor from the list of Approved Evils.”

Lord Dakka said, “I want to see them fight for dominance, but it would be one-sided and boring.”

Lord Eldraki simply gave a Cheshire grin.

… Erick truly did not like that expression on that trickster.

Lady Aelorika said, “You’ve really planned this whole thing out, eh, Nothanganathor? Did you ever imagine that we would ever name you Corrupter?”

Nothanganathor said, “Unless I am mistaken, this is a hearing and not a trial, and yes, being named Corrupter was within acceptable parameters because I have assurances that I won’t be named Corrupter. They’re not violent assurances, of course. I have been planning this for a long time and have many ways to ensure that this works out how I want it to work.”

The room was silent at those proclamations.

And then Lord Eldraki laughed. As though he already knew the answer, he asked, “How do you see this whole thing working out, Nothanganathor?”

“Best case, I win completely, with Margleknot regaining everything it lost in my subterfuge and then gaining True Communication with the Dark. Erick continues uninterrupted, and is free to pursue whatever he wishes to pursue. Having taken my Mantle from Melemizargo, I’ll undo my various curses and remake the Painted Cosmology. Do you have a name you’d like for the new universe I create in the Dark? I would hear it.” Nothanganathor said, “Worst case is the exact same thing happens, but Benevolence loses its current creator and Margleknot loses his Yggdrasil-personality. Veird is erased. The battle probably erases that well-made orb around Veird’s sun. That man who created it, Solomon, is no more, or perhaps I capture him or his Elemental Genesis and grant that power to Margleknot to make more spheres with. Perhaps the worst case would be best for all, but that is not my judgment to make. That is this Council’s judgment to make.”

Erick was there on the courtroom floor, but he wasn’t a part of the conversation at the moment.

That was probably a good thing.

Erick would have exploded like Yggdrasil had exploded, if he were allowed to speak. But from the body languages and faces of Lady Aelorika and Lady Seraphaka, Erick didn’t need to speak; they were already against Nothanganathor’s ploy, though not nearly as much as Erick would have liked. Yggdrasil still seemed hateful of Nothanganathor, so that was good.

Lord Dakka was done with this whole thing.

And then Lord Eldraki smiled devilishly, saying, “I vote for war between Malevolence and Benevolence, and we let chance and power determine the victor.”

Lord Dakka came back to the conversation, scoffing, saying, “Erick has too many weak points on Veird. Nothanganathor would decisively win any real fight between the two of them the second he allowed himself to win. He probably killed all the various Ericks who could have actually fought against him while those guys were still fiddling with basic mana! Nothanganathor doesn’t do war; he does murder.”

Lady Aelorika and Lady Seraphaka looked to each other.

Lady Aelorika said, “Then such a war simply cannot be allowed to happen on Veird—”

“Or on Veird’s sun, since that would be Nothanganathor’s base.” Lord Eldraki said, still smiling. “How convenient they have an intermediary zone, isn’t it! I think Erick named it Fenrir.”

The Ladies glared at Eldraki.

And then Lady Seraphaka said, “This is not a judgment. This is a hearing. We have heard everything we needed to hear. I move that we reconvene at a later date.”

Lord Eldraki said, “And I move that we let Nothanganathor and Erick speak to each other right here and now, and that we all get to watch to make some decisions about who to back!” He smiled at everyone. “It’s just talk!”

The Fractal Fairy waved a hand at Erick and Nothanganathor.

It was a ‘get on with it’ gesture.

The room vanished.

- -

Erick stood on one side of an oval-shaped floor made of glitter crystal. Everywhere else was lightless. It was not dark, or Dark, and it was certainly not filled with shadows. Not even sort of dim. Just a void.

Nothanganathor stood on the other side of the oval, looking tired, and yet relieved. “Help me get the Mantle and you get everything else.”

Infinity shattered the lightless void into an endless fractal, filled with images that took but moments to collect. They were consequences illuminated upon those shards of reality, like an ever-shifting stained-glass masterpiece. Each fragment held a possibility of the future.

In certain places, Erick said something devastating and won this contest, and the Enclave censured Nothanganathor. After that event, Nothanganathor ascended to godhood anyway, in a much more direct path. A path made out of the rubble and bodies of everyone on Veird.

Upon seeing that pathway the shifting Infinity transformed, for Erick was scared to confront Nothanganathor with the best possible words and cut right to apocalypse. Less paths forward won this contest for Erick. More paths showed the other way. Where the Enclave sided with Nothanganathor.

The white dragon’s countenance dominated the FENRIR system, erupting from that black surface, his face the size of the silver sphere of Veird’s outer shell. Nothanganathor took a bite out of Veird, consuming all of Melemizargo in that space, ripping the black dragon out of his prison and devouring him utterly, without disrupting anything else. And then the solar-sized leviathan went off into space, vanishing forever. Somewhere out there a portal to the Dark opened up, and Nothanganathor became a creator god. Life went on on Veird. Without the Shades. Without Melemizargo.

And Nothanganathor got away with everything evil he had ever done in pursuit of power.

He was now untouchable, a God of Darkness in a universe of his own making, there in the embrace of the Actual Darkness. The actual Darkness once again spoke with the Fractal in the ways that universes do; in the actions of people moving back and forth. All of the Painted Cosmology had become the Empire of Nothanganathor’s Shadowed Sun.

And still, Malevolence would spill forth from the New Dark, for Nothanganathor would never give up the power he had gained in his Obscurity—

Something blocked the way forward, to See more, to Know more of that Path.

Erick knew what it was.

Erick countered Nothanganathor’s hiding attempt by saying, “Would you give up pursuit of your own agendas and be a proper god to all? Or would you consume and never stop consuming? Would you never give up your mantle of power to anyone else? Or would everything always have to be your way or no way at all? Do we really want a Cosmology of the Empire of the Shadowed Sun? Empires spread.”

The block on the Fractal Future broke, revealing what Nothanganathor did not want revealed. Nothanganathor sighed in annoyance as the fractals showed a white dragon entering other universes made of mana and violently dominating all of them. Nothanganathor was going to consume every universe made of mana and remake them all in his desired image…

And then paying off Lord Eldraki with a universe of his own to add to his collection.

The other fae of the Council would get their own universes, as soon as they got over their anger at Nothanganathor’s overreach—

Nothanganathor rhetorically asked, “Do you know how many universes out there only have one or two worlds, Erick? Too many to ever count. With me at the helm of those failed, tiny places, those places would expand exponentially, and the Fractal will gain conversation partners untold. Do you know of the true natures of gods and fae? Most are ambivalent tyrants. If I were in charge, I would simply not allow those sorts of entities to exist, to lord their power over the masses, for I would hide in the shadows and eat them when they got out of line. They wouldn’t even know I existed except when I chose to make myself present, to solve this or that crisis. And so! YES. I would dominate every universe that is less than acceptably made.”

Erick glared. “Why?”

Nothanganathor glared right back, declaring, “Because every world is always falling apart because tyrants and the small-minded destroy everything, all the time, therefore they deserve nothing less than obliteration and their worlds deserve strict guidance, and I am the only one who can do that! Only through taking power away from those who cannot wield it properly can any of us ever hope to make anything better.”

“So you say a proper universe only exists with you at the head.” Erick said, “Not surprisingly, I cannot abide that. I cannot abide you. There are some things that one should not do in pursuit of power, and you have done all of them. Whoever you are when you gain more power is just going to be more of the same. You speak of tyrants? You are a tyrant, Nothanganathor.”

“I am the best possible tyrant.”

“And I must kill you.”

The fractal world reorganized along different lines.

All of them showed war, and it wasn’t a one-sided war, either.

Erick could win. That’s what the stained-glass imagery near him showed.

Nothanganathor might win. That’s what showed over on his half of this space.

Erick said, “You killed your mother to force a passing of the Mantle of Magic because you thought you could do better. You were found out then and cursed to be a leviathan. And now you have Sundered a universe and you have been found out again. You had a chance. You squandered it. You should be Sundered yourself, named Corrupter posthumously, and all your works of Malevolence broken.”

Nothanganathor raised a white eyebrow, then said, “Of course you would say that as my True Opposite.” He spoke to the world, “We’re done, here.”

The Fractal Void fell away—

- -

And Erick stood beside Yggdrasil in the courtroom once again—

Lady Aelorika said, “And that was the hearing. Everyone learned a few things. Erick. Do you wish to give your Valkyrie Spell to Lord Dakka, as well as assist Nothanganathor with the capture of that Mantle he wants?”

Erick wasn’t sure which part he was objecting to more when he instantly said, “No.”

Dakka sighed dramatically.

Lady Aelorika nodded, as though this was expected. She moved on. “Nothanganathor. Do you wish to abandon your quest for a smaller, less tumultuous existence? Or to give up your Sign of Power back to Margleknot?”

Nothanganathor said, “No.”

Lady Aelorika said, “Then we’ll reconvene in 3 days.” She looked to Erick. “Your contributions to this hearing were valuable, and thus we will be overlooking your transgressions for a fine of a billion resons. And we’re done!”

The Fractal Fairy snapped their fingers—

- -

Erick found himself in his offices of the king at House Benevolence in Tir Geal, in one of the big meeting rooms that was currently empty of everything, for Erick hadn’t had a need to fill it with anything yet.

Shadow appeared near-instantly, trying not to be too demanding as she asked, “What happened?!”

Erick took a moment, then he said to the air, “I’ll pay the fine with my Sun resons.”

Words appeared.

Done.

Father. I wish to speak to you later, away from Shadow. Please let me know when you can talk.

“Sure thing, Yggdrasil.” Erick turned to Shadow. “The first thing to know is that Nothanganathor’s avatar was strong, and yet not as strong as the actual leviathan, and that he was lying a lot in there without actually lying. All throughout the hearing there were sentiments about how I’m not strong enough to take him, and not a single person disbelieved that sentiment. I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t take him in a multiversal way, and yet, I am strong enough to take him in at least one slice of infinity.” Erick asked, “Have you fought him since the Sundering?”

“I wasn’t able to; the Council stopped me.” Shadow waved a dismissive hand. “Get on with the hearing.”

“I will. I just…” Erick breathed. “I just need a moment.”

Shadow understood. She waited.

And then Erick released his aura into the empty meeting room and began crafting a lightshow. “I started in the gallery, near my lawyers and a few other people, who were veiled in some way. Over there was Hadrago, the Lawyer Prime of Wraithborne…”

- - - -

Twenty minutes and a few interruptions of Shadow’s fury later, Erick dismissed the light show.

Shadow paced the room, clearing up a few lingering motes of all consuming Darkness she had left in the shadows here and there, and then wiping away the holes in the floor and walls and other places. She was silent. Thinking.

Erick had a lot of his own thoughts. He kept them to himself right now.

Shadow stopped pacing. She turned to Erick, and said, “It is for the best that I did not attend the hearing.”

Erick said nothing.

Shadow continued, “It is good that you did attend.” She paused in more thought. She said, “I will be able to contain myself when the lawyers get together, for that is the next move. We will gain a measure of where Wraithborne truly stands in such a meeting as well. It won’t accomplish anything of true worth, but Nothanganathor’s avatar will be present, so perhaps we will get a better idea of the person he is and who we have to kill.”

Erick nodded. “Returning back to the hearing: What do you say in regards to Nothanganathor’s idea that he is responsible for my self-creation through both the instigation of…” Erick’s temper flared almost out of control but he kept it in check, as he finished, “—in the instigation of Jane, and the emplacement of the Ultimate Quests which similarly drew me forward to Veird through Fate Magics? On the whole idea that this whole Sundering and the fallout of me being his True Opposite is a result of him playing up his competence for the Fae Enclave, to show them that he is in complete control?”

Shadow almost said something harsh and derogatory against Nothanganathor, but then she looked at Erick, and paused. She stated, “In this arena of cause-and-effect the wyrm only has as much Authority as you give him, so don’t give him any. You are a product of your environment but you are also your own creator, and that goes many times over as a Paradox Wizard. It would not surprise me at all if you went back in time and did something crazy to make your self yourself. Almost all truly powerful Paradoxes do that eventually.” She said, “It’s just a matter of Time.”

“… Ah.”

Silence.

Shadow moved on, “Regarding your rise to Margleknot, though… Nothanganathor is ascribing his actions to your outcomes and that’s not how responsibility works, and especially not for people like him. He could bluster all day every day about how he made you who you are, but it would only be truth for those who decide to listen to him.”

Erick made some decisions in that moment. He breathed out, then asked, “So the Fae Enclave isn’t going to accept that Nothanganathor is some ultimate mastermind?”

Shadow saw that Erick was past his moment of weakness, nodding firmly to note its passing. And then she went back to being quietly wrathful, saying, “That wyrm might get away with it because the Fractal wants to see the Dark again and it doesn’t care about who is at the helm of that visitation. If it was just a matter of getting back into the Dark then Nothanganathor would have already won, because you and your Benevolence are here to counter Nothanganathor’s excesses and Benevolence can easily track destructive influences of all sorts; especially when it comes to Malevolence. And yet, Nothanganathor has proven that he will kill universes to enact his will, and that he will not stop.

“The fact that you uncovered his greater desires to enact his will upon the Small Universes, to make them grow under his Shadowed Sun Empire, is probably going to be the tipping point where Nothanganathor does not win.

“We have likely gained countless allies and also enemies in that uncovering of desire. The Powers That Be of those Small Universes are not on this stage yet at all, but Nothanganathor is dragging them this way, and they could go either way regarding a tyrant leviathan coming in and consuming and replacing all of the tyrants they already have. Oddly enough, those Small Tyrants of those Small Universes will likely side with Benevolence a great deal, for they don’t wish to be deposed, while the Good Gods and Heroes might side with Malevolence and Nothanganathor, for the Acceptable Evil of Margleknot might be a better evil than the evils they already have.

“That truly depends on the universes.

“And yet, with any Acceptable Fate this whole event never reaches that far and we arrive at a good outcome here, in the next 3 days.

“What we need to do is present a plan for something that would outweigh Nothanganathor’s goals of growing outward into the Small Universes and remaking the Painted Cosmology in his image.” Shadow ended with, “I propose we make a plan out of the nebulous thing you have spoken of a few times in that dossier that Margleknot handed out. We make a real plan for expanding from Veird into this Fractal Cosmology.”

Erick scrunched his eyebrows. “What do we need besides a nebulous plan? It should be rather simple, right?”

“Is it, really?” Shadow asked, “If we succeed in making the Painted Cosmology again, would you come with me to the Dark? Or would you want to stay here in this universe? I haven’t met the girl, but I’m almost 100% sure that your daughter would want to go to the Painted Cosmology.”

Ah!

Sudden mirth filled Erick many times over as he imagined Jane loosed upon the universe. Erick said, “I don’t think worrying about that is necessary. She’s going to go absolutely everywhere, multiple times over, as soon as she can. I’m a little sad that I might only ever get to see her and her sisters and Evan every other century once this whole thing works out well, but I’m pretty sure I can work out how to visit her with a step of power whenever I want.”

Shadow’s mood seemed to improve as Erick’s did. She nodded. “That’s one way to do it, yes.” She sighed out, and it was a happy sort of sound. And then her eyes glittered with Darkness, and she said, “A workable plan might help the Council see us as valued, so let us plan how to make a universe, Erick, both in the Fractal, and in the Dark.”

“I have about a hundred questions about the Painted Cosmology,” Erick said, as he began moving his aura around the entirety of House Benevolence, copying some treats here and there in the various offices of the House and bringing them to this room. Big fluffy chairs and some tables and working chairs and a whole drinking cart came next. Erick poured a copy of some fresh tea that some people were drinking down in the Command Center, as they fiddled with the [Infinite Imaging] and searched all of Tir Geal for threats of many different kinds. There weren’t many threats, though. So Erick simply said to Shadow, “Primarily, what does a connection between universes even look like? Is there a reason that the galaxy containing Veird seems to be a giant [Renew] ring, with Veird in the gap?”

Shadow readily took her tea, seeming to relax even more as she said, “That’s where Nothanganathor killed several thousand lightyears’ worth of the Fractal Cosmology when he Sundered the Painted Cosmology. The destruction went far and deep, threatening to spread far in this universe as well. Margleknot contained the problem along with Nothanganathor, who was there within moments of the event. From this angle, I am told the destruction was a corruptive event. I made it through just fine, though those first days were horrific and I was furious.” She sipped her tea as she sat down in a big fluffy chair. Erick sat down across from her. Shadow continued, “The corruption of that event was a way to shield all actual Viewing into the heart of the event itself, so the question of ‘what happened’ has always been a big question. I remember the next few years vividly, but I do not wish to go over them for they paint me in a rather terrible light.”

Erick nodded.

Shadow continued, “As for what a connection between universes looks like? That is a varied topic. Sometimes it’s a single divot in the Fractal Cosmology that leads to other places… I believe you’d call it a ‘False Vacuum hole’? Anyway, I see you understand the words, even if we don’t share the same language in that way. Anywhere that is collapsed in the Fractal Cosmology can give rise to a hole into another place, or serve as a place where another universe can grow.

“Black holes can often serve as ways into other Universes. Most galaxies have one at the center that serves this function.

“Did you know that gravity is just an expression of slices of reality that are nearby each other? Oh yes. Extreme gravity, like that inside a black hole, is a result of Small Universes existing within a space. Usually the actual entrance to that Small Universe is only on one or maybe a few slices of a Layer, with all the other slices merely experiencing heavy gravity.

“Moving on: Oftentimes, the distance between Here and There is a Veil-like structure that exists strongly in certain areas. This is that Dark Matter that you’ve sometimes referenced in your dossier. So again: gravity.

“The Dark connected to the Fractal by way of Veil, most prominently existent within that Renew Galaxy, as you call it, in Layer 789. We kept the number of actual entrances down to a handful; 5 of them. We mostly had annihilating Dark in those entrances; a defensive measure. We’re probably going to have to have cities instead, when we remake it all. Gotta show how friendly we are, after all.”

Erick was having a moment.

He leaned forward a little bit. “Can you talk more about gravity as a function of slices of reality?”

“Oh sure. It’s all space time here in the Fractal Cosmology; that’s where we have to start this conversation. From there the rest of it is easy to understand. The multiverse is stuck to itself in a way which makes gravity happen due to the nearness of side-realities. Like you know that gravity strength is a function of distance from matter? That’s because the ability to draw forth side realities using resons —to pull a grain of rice out of nothing— is more easily achieved when you’re closer to side realities in which it would be physically easy to pull forth a grain of rice out of nothing, and it’s harder to do that when you’re further away from planets with rice.” Shadow said, “Everything in this universe is a function of nearness to each other in time and space, and gravity is a natural function of that nearness, but if you go too deep with gravity, you punch forth into completely new possibility, which gives rise to new universes, or at least completely new possibilities, which then gives rise to new universes.”

Erick sat thinking for a moment.

Shadow smirked, sipping her tea.

Erick said, “I’ll try to reconcile that with what I already know, but it seems… almost intuitive when you put it that way?”

Shadow smiled. “All universes are rather intuitive when you get right down to it. Here, gravity and time are a function of nearness of other matters in side realities, but in the Painted Cosmology, collective mana belief did all that, while Elemental Stone helped a lot with a foundational base. From there...”

Erick and Shadow spoke for a while, and Erick got to experience a part of Shadow he did not realize existed. Shadow knew a lot about a lot. He had known this, of course, but he hadn’t really known this. Now he knew.

When the conversation moved on to universal building plans, Erick suggested Benevolence dungeons on suitable worlds of the Renew Galaxy, with giant bubbles of [Renewing] [Hasted Shelter]s and [Terraforming]s around them to speed up development by a lot. Shadow had more nuanced ideas that showed a level of building and care that Erick was simply not willing to extend beyond ‘put some good people in charge and let them run free’. Shadow wanted tourism and garden worlds and grand societies to anchor and support the rebirth of the Painted Cosmology, which she wanted to accomplish on the Other Side of the Renew Galaxy. Erick couldn’t say that her ideas were better or worse, they were just different, and therefore easy enough to accept.

“Melemizargo wants to put dungeons everywhere and then bring people back on this side of the universe.” Erick asked, “Do you think he would want to adjust his plans toward remaking the Painted Cosmology instead, if he knew you were still around and we were doing this sort of planning here?”

“Hard to say what he would do exactly, but he will likely wish to go back to the Dark,” Shadow said. “Whatever the case, you’re not going to ask him to sacrifice himself to Nothanganathor, are you?”

“Ha! Absolutely not. Melemizargo is a friend.”

Shadow smiled softly. “Is it time to talk to some lawyers?”

Erick gazed across the decimation of a grand feast that both of them had shared while they spoke. From ‘chicken’ bones on plates to empty casserole dishes to many other empty plates and a few empty barrels of good drink, they had eaten well. Erick was ready to move on. And yet…

“Yes, but I need to talk to Yggdrasil first.”

Shadow nodded, then stood up. “I’ll be there for the lawyer meeting. Let me know when.” And then she stepped away.

Erick cleared away the dregs of their feast with a [Benevolent Cleanse]. The detritus of life misted into a white fog that rolled away, disappearing into reality. Erick stood up.

“Yggdrasil?” Erick asked, “Want to talk?”

Yggdrasil stepped into the room. The room flashed over with golden hexagons, labeled with QUARANTINE. Yggdrasil instantly said, “There is no trial. The decision has been made. We wish to purge Nothanganathor from Margleknot, but steps must be taken to ensure this happens in a positive way. Malevolence and Benevolence are both useful, so we will keep both, but their primary users must leave to avoid what we call a Grand Trial here in Margleknot, which would likely result in the deaths of trillions. That means you, too. You gotta leave. You can come back here, but when this war is over, Nothanganathor is purged.

“And so, the Grand Trial will take place on Veird.

“After visiting with your lawyers in a final attempt to amicably avoid a fight, which we doubt is possible, you will be moving back to Veird.

“From there, you will have the task of removing Nothanganathor yourself.

“We believe —that with assistance— you can defend one reality from him. If you wish to win you will have to work to defend multiple realities, and then you will have to erase the Erased One. It will not be easy. I will be helping you in my capacity as Margleknot. Nothanganathor will be drawing on his resources here in Margleknot and elsewhere, as well. The fight will be contained to Veird and the surrounding space. Anyone who is forced to flee is an automatic loser, and we will be working to ensure no one flees.

“The outcome will be something we will all have to live with.”

Erick took a moment.

Then he said, “Yup. Expected that.”

Yggdrasil waited.

Erick asked, “So why the Quarantine?”

“Because everyone and their grandmother is spying on you and Shadow right now,” Yggdrasil said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Aside from all this world-ending Nothanganathor shit— Why are you moving so fast with her? She’s going to betray you in 500 years!”

“… What?” Erick felt some whiplash right now. “Don’t people have better things to do than worry about… whatever this is?” He grinned. “It’s kinda quaint.”

Yggdrasil shook his head. He focused. “Father. Erick. Shadow will betray you.”

“Probably not, actually.” Erick said, “She seems okay.”

Yggdrasil paused. He looked at Erick. “… You’re happy right now?”

Erick smiled. “I’m going home and Nothanganathor isn’t automatically winning. I have a lot to be happy about.”

Yggdrasil frowned a little, his golden eyes sparkling with concern. “… He has some big trick. I don’t know the trick, but he’s going to try and win everything with his tricks.”

“Yup. So be ready. I suggest you dismantle the Malevolence stuff you have here in Margleknot while you can.” Erick asked, “Want me to try hooking up [Benevolent Cleanse] to an [Infinite Imaging] and simply erasing all of the Malevolence here in Margleknot?”

Yggdrasil blinked. And then he laughed. “No. That would be… a disaster.”

Erick nodded.

Yggdrasil said, “The danger isn’t coming from those Malevolence formations, anyway. We’ve prognosticated in ways you don’t even know are possible. We’re very sure that the danger is not coming from Malevolence. Or Benevolence, for that matter, just so you know.”

Erick thought for a moment… “What about the absence of Malevolence, then? Could he take back his power and fuck things up? If a [Cleanse] could fuck up everything, surely he could do the same?”

“We’ve checked that, too. We’re not sure what the trick is, but he has one, and nothing we do can find it. Just be careful, father.” Yggdrasil said, “And don’t tell anyone about this conversation until stuff happens.”

“Sure.”

Yggdrasil looked at Erick for a while longer.

… And then Yggdrasil stepped away, clearing the air and the mana history as the golden Quarantine hexagons vanished—

Shadow stepped right back into the room. “What the fuck was that?”

Erick chuckled. “Good news and bad news and I can’t tell you about any of it. I’m going to send off a message to Wraithborne about the lawyers. You ready to meet them?”

… Shadow stared for a moment. “I await the meeting with the lawyers!”

And then huffed and stepped away through a wave of Dark veils to vanish from sight, to go wherever it was she was going— Ah. Back to her castle, it appeared. She was busy in her Observation Room now, rapidly getting Witch Aragathara and Great Mother Caa back into the room to go over a whole bunch of prognostication things.

Erick spoke to the air, down by Shivraa, his secretary, “Shivraa.”

“Yes, sir?” Shivraa said, suddenly looking up from her computer terminal.

“Set up a meeting with the lawyers and Wraithborne. They’ll probably be expecting your call.”

“At once, sir.”